What are the current midrangers offering, though, and are they worthy of the nascent landgrab that is about to ensue in the category? Good midrangers these days start you off with a 720p display, which means we'll have both H1 2013 entrants, and last year's flagships in the slideshow below.

We are rounding up a few of the best representatives of the upper midrange echelon that typically go for less than half a grand without contract subsidies, to help you choose in the $300-$500 SIM-free price range.

Great design for the slimmest smartphone out there? Check. Pentaband radio for the globetrotter in you? Check. Mediocre camera? Check. For the ~$400 price and the looks of the Ascend P6 we are willing to overlook the finicky camera quality as the P6 is a great Android device in the rest of the departments.

It might not have the Full HD screen of the flagship Z sibling but the Xperia ZR offers plenty of oomph for its sub-$500 price. It is waterproof, just like the Z, and you can shoot 1080p movies underwater with the dedicated mode of the 13 MP Exmor RS camera, something that no other watertight phone can brag with. A slew of candy colors rounds up the pretty offering.

HTC just took the wraps off the mini version of the HTC One, and it sports the same awesome BoomSound speakers at the front in a more compact and manageable body aluminum unibody, with the same great screen tech of its larger brother.

It's the Nexus 4 that made Google Experience phones proliferate, as it stuffed modernity inside a glass chassis for a rock bottom price. If you want to get the latest Android versions first at a grand total that will make you smile, this 720p handset is for you.

The Optimus F7 is actually giving the Nexus 4 a run for its money with its $300 price tag and similar specs; it has the new Optimus UI on, though, rather than stock Android. At this price it is one of the most affordable and well-rounded 720p Android phones.

Last year's Samsung flagship broke all sales records, and if you are into the eye-popping colors of AMOLED displays and good resale value, the price is now just right to get this thin and light Android.

The HTC One X+ came to right all wrongs with the One X, and brought on the same awesome bright display, but upped the ante with a faster processor and the most internal memory of them all at 64 GB. Couple those with HTC's svelte unibody design, and the current price might just be in your ballpark already.

HTC One X+

http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/HTC-One-X-Review_id3172

Great design for the slimmest smartphone out there? Check. Pentaband radio for the globetrotter in you? Check. Mediocre camera? Check. For the ~$400 price and the looks of the Ascend P6 we are willing to overlook the finicky camera quality as the P6 is a great Android device in the rest of the departments.

The new midrange: best Android phones with HD 720p displays

Great design for the slimmest smartphone out there? Check. Pentaband radio for the globetrotter in you? Check. Mediocre camera? Check. For the ~$400 price and the looks of the Ascend P6 we are willing to overlook the finicky camera quality as the P6 is a great Android device in the rest of the departments.

It might not have the Full HD screen of the flagship Z sibling but the Xperia ZR offers plenty of oomph for its sub-$500 price. It is waterproof, just like the Z, and you can shoot 1080p movies underwater with the dedicated mode of the 13 MP Exmor RS camera, something that no other watertight phone can brag with. A slew of candy colors rounds up the pretty offering.

HTC just took the wraps off the mini version of the HTC One, and it sports the same awesome BoomSound speakers at the front in a more compact and manageable body aluminum unibody, with the same great screen tech of its larger brother.

It's the Nexus 4 that made Google Experience phones proliferate, as it stuffed modernity inside a glass chassis for a rock bottom price. If you want to get the latest Android versions first at a grand total that will make you smile, this 720p handset is for you.

The Optimus F7 is actually giving the Nexus 4 a run for its money with its $300 price tag and similar specs; it has the new Optimus UI on, though, rather than stock Android. At this price it is one of the most affordable and well-rounded 720p Android phones.

Last year's Samsung flagship broke all sales records, and if you are into the eye-popping colors of AMOLED displays and good resale value, the price is now just right to get this thin and light Android.

The HTC One X+ came to right all wrongs with the One X, and brought on the same awesome bright display, but upped the ante with a faster processor and the most internal memory of them all at 64 GB. Couple those with HTC's svelte unibody design, and the current price might just be in your ballpark already.

Qualcomm S4 Pro + 720p + Android 4.1 (so far). Sorry, but those add up to be a mid-range phone by most of today's standards, and if they don't they certainly will pretty soon when the S800s and Tegra 4s start coming out.

Don't worry, mid-range phones are looking MUCH more appealing than mid-range phones of yesteryear. I'm still perfectly content with my Evo 4G LTE despite it fitting firmly into the mid-range category now.

I disagree that the nexus 4 is a mid-range phone just because it does not have 1080p HD! it still has 2gb of ram still a very fast quad core processor plus will get the latest and greatest of android first!

Just throwing out a perspective to take into consideration: If mid-range phones now are on par with previous high-end phones (and that was the market that was booming), and it's the mid-range segment that's booming now, then perhaps it's possible that this is just the level of mobile device the majority of consumers are interested in...

I think Xperia ZR is the best android phone with 720p Display just because ZR have Quad core S4 Pro Cpu and 320 Gpu, big and removeable battery, sd card, IP58, and according to mobiltelefon.ru ZR have good 13MP Exmor RS Camera and the display also have good viewing angle.

Does the artile suggesting that The New Mid Range = Last Year's FLagship (specs)?
I tought we're seing comparison between today's midrange, eg. Sony Xperia Sp, Samsung S4 Mini and HTC One mini, instead of last years flagship such as Galaxy S3 and Nexus 4.

All content (phone reviews, news, specs, info), design and layouts are Copyright 2001-2015 phoneArena.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part or in any form or medium without written permission is prohibited! Privacy . Terms of use . Cookies . Team